The Week: Columns: Friday, 5th October 2025.
The Right to Information Act is the focus as THE WEEK's cover story, detailing its origins, the fight for transparency, and the sacrifices of activists like Satish Shetty, stemming from movements like MKSS
AFTER YOU READ MY LETTER,
I would appreciate it if you would turn to Page 9 and read 16-year-old Chris
Rennie Dominic’s note to Resident Editor R. Prasannan. The Bengaluru boy
disagrees with Prasannan’s column in the last issue, and argues his case well—without
the name-calling and often illogically emotional outbursts that inhabit comment
boxes online.
Well done, Chris. You care enough about issues to respond. As a senior citizen, I am often dejected when young people say they do not care about politics. May your tribe continue to reject “broken systems handed down” to you, and together build a world better than the one I inherited and live in.
I am sure Prasannan will write to you personally and argue his case. He is a judge’s son, after all. And, if I may add, THE WEEK’s first trainee, too. In 1982, THE WEEK began with just him and editor V.K.B. Nair sitting at the farthest ends of a long desk. Thanks again for writing, Chris, and accept the warm wishes of an editor and grandfather who has grandchildren older than you.
This week’s cover on the toothless Right to Information Act highlights the anger that birthed the Act and the storm that could eventually brew if governments withhold the public’s right to know. Senior Correspondent Nirmal Jovial notes that more than 100 transparency activists have lost their lives in the pursuit of truth. He begins with the murder of Satish Shetty on January 13, 2010, in Talegaon Dabhade, Maharashtra.
Nirmal also travelled to Beawar in Rajasthan, where the demand for the RTI Act was first raised in September 1995, during a 40-day dharna organised by the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS). He interviewed MKSS co-founder Aruna Roy to provide context to the movement. In Devdungari, Rajasthan, he met Sushila, who gave us the famous and earthy answer to why we need RTI: “Hamara paisa, hamara hisaab (our money, our accounts).”
In other political stories, we look at the developments in Ladakh. The developments are special to us as Sonam Wangchuk was our Man of the Year 25 years ago. Former deputy chief of bureau Vijaya Pushkarna met him for that cover story. He shared the bitter tale of being whipped in school at Nubra Valley 150km from his home in Uleytopko and then being called a dunce at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Srinagar. But he had relatively happy memories of his time in Vishesh Kendriya Vidyalaya in Delhi, where he joined in Class 7.
When people see only Wangchuk’s present anger, I cannot help but see the boy from the bleak mountains who has always yearned for better days for his people.
In other political news, Chief of Bureau (Mumbai) Dnyanesh Jathar interviews Maharashtra’s Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal on the Maratha reservation issue. Senior Assistant Editor Pratul Sharma marks the 100th anniversary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The RSS is trying to present itself as more inclusive, Pratul says, even as the assertion of Hindutva identity remains prominent in the political environment.
In @leisure, Special Correspondent Anjuly Mathai interviews Kiran Desai on her new book. Desai admits that she sees the dark side of loneliness, but also sees “the worth of being alone as an artist, a writer and a woman”. I re-read the line a few times, but fail to see the bright side of being lonely.
But then, that is me. And I have not won a Booker.
The Right to Information Act is the focus as THE WEEK's cover story, detailing its origins, the fight for transparency, and the sacrifices of activists like Satish Shetty, stemming from movements like MKSS
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| Imaging: Binesh Sreedharan |
Well done, Chris. You care enough about issues to respond. As a senior citizen, I am often dejected when young people say they do not care about politics. May your tribe continue to reject “broken systems handed down” to you, and together build a world better than the one I inherited and live in.
I am sure Prasannan will write to you personally and argue his case. He is a judge’s son, after all. And, if I may add, THE WEEK’s first trainee, too. In 1982, THE WEEK began with just him and editor V.K.B. Nair sitting at the farthest ends of a long desk. Thanks again for writing, Chris, and accept the warm wishes of an editor and grandfather who has grandchildren older than you.
This week’s cover on the toothless Right to Information Act highlights the anger that birthed the Act and the storm that could eventually brew if governments withhold the public’s right to know. Senior Correspondent Nirmal Jovial notes that more than 100 transparency activists have lost their lives in the pursuit of truth. He begins with the murder of Satish Shetty on January 13, 2010, in Talegaon Dabhade, Maharashtra.
Nirmal also travelled to Beawar in Rajasthan, where the demand for the RTI Act was first raised in September 1995, during a 40-day dharna organised by the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS). He interviewed MKSS co-founder Aruna Roy to provide context to the movement. In Devdungari, Rajasthan, he met Sushila, who gave us the famous and earthy answer to why we need RTI: “Hamara paisa, hamara hisaab (our money, our accounts).”
In other political stories, we look at the developments in Ladakh. The developments are special to us as Sonam Wangchuk was our Man of the Year 25 years ago. Former deputy chief of bureau Vijaya Pushkarna met him for that cover story. He shared the bitter tale of being whipped in school at Nubra Valley 150km from his home in Uleytopko and then being called a dunce at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Srinagar. But he had relatively happy memories of his time in Vishesh Kendriya Vidyalaya in Delhi, where he joined in Class 7.
When people see only Wangchuk’s present anger, I cannot help but see the boy from the bleak mountains who has always yearned for better days for his people.
In other political news, Chief of Bureau (Mumbai) Dnyanesh Jathar interviews Maharashtra’s Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal on the Maratha reservation issue. Senior Assistant Editor Pratul Sharma marks the 100th anniversary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The RSS is trying to present itself as more inclusive, Pratul says, even as the assertion of Hindutva identity remains prominent in the political environment.
In @leisure, Special Correspondent Anjuly Mathai interviews Kiran Desai on her new book. Desai admits that she sees the dark side of loneliness, but also sees “the worth of being alone as an artist, a writer and a woman”. I re-read the line a few times, but fail to see the bright side of being lonely.
But then, that is me. And I have not won a Booker.
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